DeeJayTJ

I have a 2013 Mustang GT - Base model - No Sync.

I added an iPad mini to my car and needed a way to listen to it, but I also wanted handsfree calling and USB, like Sync, for charging or reading flashdrives and hard drives.
so I've got 2 different bluetooth configurations to my car as well as made my center console power port switchable using a relay so that it is only on when the car is on.
The ONLY reason I have 2 bluetooth setups is because one of them is for phone and hands free calling while the other is strictly for my ipad. Obviously you only need 1 bluetooth setup unless you are doing something out of the ordinary like I did.

I recommend either one of these bluetooth devices because of the audio quality is AMAZING. I've gone thru a few different bluetooth setups and these were the best by far.

First bluetooth configuration - first and best rather - GROM Audio -USB3.
This device allows me to bluetooth my phone to my car for both audio and phone calls. You can even answer the phone thru the headunit, it will also interrupt any source you are in such as FM/CD or Aux, so you can take the call thru your headunit.

The 2nd bluetooth device is a KINIVO BT450 - This bluetooth adapter plugs into the line-in, and gets power from the 12v center console power - I needed the console to be switched so that way i could leave this plugged in 24-7.

If you want a very stock sync like bluetooth setup, I recommend the Grom Audio device - its more expensive (about 135 plus another adapter for about 20 or so) but its plug n play.

If you just want bluetooth audio - you can get the Kinivo BT450, plug it into your aux in and center console power and call it a day. This item is about $40.
If you go with the Kinivo BT450, you will have to plug it into the center console power each time you want to use it, or you can do what I did and make it "switched" using a relay, so that way it will auto power on and connect to your bluetooth device (phone).

Kinivo BT450 in my car next to the functional flushmount USB port that I've added.



To allow this power port to turn on when the car turns on I've wired in a DEI 8616 Pre-Wired MINI relay, which means i had to cut the power wire from the car to the power port and wire the relay in between.

#30 - Yellow - 12v from Car (cig lighter)
#87 - Brown - Becomes switched power to Cig Lighter (at plug).
#86 - RED - Switched source FROM car (i used radio)
#85 - Black - Ground

I didn't want to splice any wires from my radio harness and I'm adding an amp to my car soon for the premium door speakers with the subs in them, so since I didn't want to splice, I've got a PAC AOEM-FRD24 inline with my factory harness which has an AMP turn on wire which i used as a switched source to relay which is not ignition or accessory actually but is radio, so it powers on when radio turns on.

So with this relay it allowed me to leave this bluetooth adapter plugged in and only turn on when the radio is on and uses my line in - works GREAT!

For the GROM AUDIO microphone - I bought the maplight with the motion sensors and replaced the driverside sensor with the bluetooth mic so its concealed nice and pretty.



To activate the grom audio device you push the Sirius button.
As you can see, the title on my phone shows up on my radio too.



it doesnt matter if i'm listening to FM, or the iPad or the Factory aux input, if the phone rings, it will over power any other source and let me answer or ignore by hitting next track or previous track (prev. track hangs up or ignores)

Any questions feel free to hit me up!

Xtian85

Nice job I have the same BT adapter works ok for the price. I haven't had time to wire it up, but I decided I'm going to go with a headunit with Bt for now.

DeeJayTJ

you should try the kinivo bt450 bluetooth adapter, it sounds incredible! but the grom audio from www.gromaudio.com is more like factory sync.

amplifier28

Do you have a pic of the relay which show visually how it connects to the wires?

DeeJayTJ

no i dont... because its just wires coming off a relay and all relays have numbers to each pin/wire like i included in the write up.

here is a pic of the grom audio device itself which pretty much works like an aftermarket sync

cjjiii

Thanks for the wrap up. I have a question as I am planning on doing this too. I will only run one device (I phone).
You say that you attached your phone, but was it through the GROM or other unit. I read and then re-read your article and just couldn't make sense.

Do you need anything else to connect your phone to the car stereo?
Thanks
CJ

DeeJayTJ

my phone is connected to the grom unit. you can use the grom unit to your phone with bluetooth and have both audio and phone work a lot like sync.

as for the mic there are a few options you can do. you can do like i did in the pic a few posts above where i put the mic where the motion sensor would go (if i had a motion sensor, since its a base model it doesnt) ... or you can buy a headliner mic from the f-series plus the mount and remove that ford mic and retrofit the grom mic into that by breaking it out of its case to just having the bare mic. ill post pics... the only reason i did this is because at first i did not insulate my grom mic in the map light so road noise was a problem. just like i did with the F-150 sync mic, i basically did the same with the grom mic, i cracked it open and mounted it in place of motion sensor and insulated it.

amplifier28

I can not seem to find the pre-wired Dei relay locally. Can I use a regular auto relay or is the pre-wired Dei relay a necessity? If I can use a regular automotive relay, which one may I use?

DeeJayTJ

the relay was only to make my center console power port to be switchable, as in. car on, power on. car off power off.

you can use a regular automotive relay if you want to.

amplifier28

Does the relay have to be for specific amps?

DeeJayTJ

I'm not an expert on relays, this may be better answered by someone else, I think a 40 amp relay supports "up to" a 40amp draw which technically shouldn't hurt but its a big relay.

The relay i suggested is for small powered things and is more like 10amps open and 20amps closed.

mustangbr

This thread was a great find! I've been searching for a way to use a USB stick in my car stereo since I don't have SYNC. The GROM-AND2-FRD seems exactly what I need for this case (I don't need Bluetooth).

One question: On their website, they only mention compatibility Ford Mustang 2007-2009 for any GROM device:
http://www.gromaudio.com/store/usb_a...interface.html

Is that the exactly model you bought? I just wanted to confirm that even though it doesn't say it's compatible with your 2013, you were still able to install it.

DeeJayTJ

yes it is, but with the current firmware - i had to wire it up to the switched wire (same one an amp signal turn on wire would use) rather than the constant 12v because for whatever reason with this firmware it doesnt go to sleep mode properly which would drain my battery after not using the car daily (my car gets driven maybe twice a week).

i got my friend to buy one for his honda and it auto powers down or sleep mode or whatever just like its supposed to, but i can only guess that since the 2010+ isnt OFFICIALLY supported that it doesnt know exactly what to do.

I told GROM about this and they hope to eventually push out a new firmware update to correct this so it can be wired to a constant hot wire.

mustangbr

So my GROM just arrived today, and I went to the car to install it right away. Right now the dash is already removed, and I just came upstairs to grab an USB male to female extension cable for it.

However, I was wondering: How did you manage to find out that the device was not going to sleep mode properly? It seems that there is no LED or anything showing that the device went to sleep mode. I wanted to test using the regular red wire to see how it would work. (I know you already said it won't go to sleep mode, but I just wanted to see it for myself).

You said to connect to the switched wire... Which one is that? Anyway of finding that out easily?

DeeJayTJ

you will find that it does not go to sleep because even with the car off your phone will still stay connected via Bluetooth when it is supposed to disconnect on its own after about 30 seconds at most.

The other way to tell, is that your car battery will be dead after a few days of not driving it lol. My car is NOT my daily driver so it spends a lot of time in the garage. Ever since i tapped into the switched wire (which usually is used for an amp as the remote turn on wire) I've had no problems with it - tho it would be much better if it would just sleep as it should. Maybe I have a defective unit? I dont know, if yours sleeps as it should then I may buy another one!

I don't know which wire it is and I wish i could tell you which one to use but unfortunately its been a while. I also ended up using an adapter which gave me RCA outputs for an amp, and it also had a separate wire to use as an amp turn on wire so I didn't have to tap into my factory harness.

mustangbr

My GROM didn't come with Bluetooth, so I guess there's no other way of finding out if it will power off correctly

I'll be connecting to the "Voltage supplied in Start" wire then. Unfortunately I'm guessing I will lose the support for keeping USB drive playlist position when turning the car off.

mustangbr

Just finished installing!

Opening the box:


Checking it worked before putting everything back:


Where it was installed (I actually pushed it to the very back after the picture so it wouldn't be moving around while driving):


At the end, I actually realized it was really no big deal losing the playlist position. Since I have the songs separated in several folders, it make almost no difference.

Thanks for the help DeeJayTJ! Without this topic I would never know about this device.

DeeJayTJ

yours is different than mine :-/.. mine is the USB2 PLUS

yours doesnt have bluetooth at all? I had to buy a dongle for the bluetooth PHONE portion of it so i could have a mic and all that.

Figured maybe you could atleast use bluetooth to listen to music on your phone.

You are absolutely sure that it does not hold your playlist position? I could have sworn mine does even tho it kills the power completely.

mine doesnt support my steering wheel controls - does yours? maybe yours would sleep as its supposed to if given full power 24-7 rather than switched?

***EDIT

just looked up the site, looks like you bought more of a basic one that really only has USB and AUX in. Atleast your headunit can control your USB and Aux in if using USB on iphone,android,ipod also.

mustangbr

That's true, mine is more basic than yours, it doesn't have Bluetooth at all. I actually thought about getting the same as yours since the difference was only ~$30, but I knew I was never gonna use bluetooth...

Yeah, I just checked again when going back home, and it doesn't hold playlist after turning the car off. And mine doesn't support steering wheel controls either. I'm assuming mine will not go to sleep since yours doesn't...

EDIT:
I just checked one more time, and it seemed to hold the playlist position, but in a weird way (not from the very last time that I turned off the car, but from the previous time)

Mabemjolnir

I'm so glad I found this thread, I've been looking for a way to add sync functionality to my 2013 base mustang.

I ordered a Grom usb2 like the one in the link above, as well as the Bluetooth adapter with microphone.

What I would like help with is how to hook up the Grom unit to the accessory delay power, and not the always on power so it doesn't drain my battery. From what I've been able to find out the accessory delayed power is what keeps the radio on for ten minutes or until the door opens after you turn off the car.

Would I just be able to splice the Grom in to my stereos 12v power? Or is there some other power source in that area that I would be able to splice in to instead? Thank you for any help you can give.